PhD Research Studentships
Development of damage-resistant lightweight materials through experiment and modelling assisted bio-inspired design
| Supervisor: | Haibao LIU |
| Apply by: | 29 January 2025 |
| Start in: | September (Semester 1) |
Description
In the pursuit of a sustainable and low-carbon future, lightweight materials are expected to play a pivotal role. They, not only provide excellent mechanical performance and high operational efficiency, but also facilitate lower costs and less environmental impact. However, longstanding concerns about lightweight materials, including low damage resistance and impact strength, have considerably reduced their potential contributions to sustainability. To further spur the application of lightweight materials in engineering structures, it is of great importance to develop resilient lightweight materials with enhanced damage resistance. Researchers have realized that some biological systems, such as skeletons and shells, showcase exceptional damage tolerance. Recent research has revealed that the hierarchical arrangements such as brick-and-mortar structures are the key to the exceptional damage tolerance of these biological systems. To leverage these biological systems, considerable efforts have been made to draw inspiration from these natural arrangements for the development of durable damage-resistant lightweight materials.
The proposed project is therefore designed to address this challenge by developing a hybrid design methodology that combines experimental investigation and computational simulation to support the design of bio-inspired damage-resistant lightweight materials for structural applications. In this project, bespoke experimental approaches will be developed to investigate natural materials and extract the microscale structural arrangements. A numerical tool integrating material nonlinearity and heterogeneity will be developed to reveal the intrinsic relationship between the microscale arrangement and macroscale performance. The overarching goal of this project is to deliver innovative outcomes, ranging from understanding damage mechanisms to robust design tools for lightweight materials. Through pursuing this goal, this proposed project is expected to contribute to the advancement of bio-inspired lightweight materials with both enhanced damage resistance and environmental sustainability.
Funding
Funded by: China Scholarship CouncilCandidate will need to secure a CSC scholarship.
Under the scheme, Queen Mary will provide scholarships to cover all tuition fees, whilst the CSC will provide living expenses and one return flight ticket to successful applicants.
Eligibility
- The minimum requirement for this studentship opportunity is a good honours degree (minimum 2(i) honours or equivalent) or MSc/MRes in a relevant discipline.
- If English is not your first language, you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ overall with a minimum score of minimum score of 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking).
- Candidates are expected to start in September (Semester 1).
Contact
For informal enquiries about this opportunity, please contact Haibao LIU.
Apply
Start an application for this studentship and for entry onto the PhD Mechanical Engineering full-time programme (Semester 1 / September start):
Please be sure to quote the reference "SEMS-PHD-640" to associate your application with this studentship opportunity.
| Related website: | https://www.sems.qmul.ac.uk/staff/h.liu/research/ | |
| SEMS Research Centre: | ||
| Keywords: | Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics |